New Kamloops Labour Council president has her eye on the future

KAMLOOPS - Barbara Nederpel is the new president of the Kamloops and District Labour Council after being acclaimed this week.

First vice president Nederpal was acclaimed Jan. 6 after former president Peter Kerek stepped aside earlier this week. Kerek ran for a city council seat in November but ultimately lost.

Nederpel says she plans to continue Kerek's work, building closer relationships with the community.

She believes labour groups in and around Kamloops have strong working relationships with groups like the Council of Canadians and Kamloops Health Coalition.

“But there is more we can do to engage union members to also get more active in key community issues like protecting Medicare and promoting environmentally responsible industrial projects,” she says.

The council plans on freshening up its website and to increase engagement on social media platforms to help build on those relationships. Nederpel calls 2015 an important year because of the federal election and the need to get more union members active in voting.

She says the goal of the new executive will be to open dialogue with workers, whether they are affiliated or not, to increase their engagement with the council.

Following the elections earlier this week Brad Gerow is first vice president, Jan Marr is second vice president, John Hall is secretary, Lois Rugg is sergeant at arms and Jordan Mohle is trustee. The council represents about 10,000 unionized employees in the region.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Jennifer Stahn at jstahn@infonews.ca or call 250-819-3723. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

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